Blake Walsh Named Finalist for Prestigious U.S. Collegiate Bowling Honour
By Matt Stevens
Rising Australian bowling star Blake Walsh has been named a finalist for the 2025 IBMA Collegiate Bowler of the Year, one of the highest honours in U.S. college bowling.
Presented by Storm Bowling and awarded by the International Bowling Media Association (IBMA), the annual accolade recognises the top-performing male and female student-athletes competing in the U.S. collegiate bowling scene.
Blake, a freshman at Mount Mercy University in Iowa, is the only international bowler among the ten male finalists and hails from Ballina, New South Wales.
Finalists were selected by a panel of bowling media professionals and former collegiate coaches and athletes. In a format update this year, two “All-American” teams will be named from the list of finalists, with the top vote-getters crowned the 2025 Storm Collegiate Bowlers of the Year.
The winners will be announced at the Night of Champions Banquet during the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Las Vegas on April 16.
The award, established in 1987, has recognised some of the sport’s biggest names and is considered a key milestone for athletes pursuing high-level amateur or professional careers in bowling. Blake’s nomination is a significant achievement for both him and the broader Australian bowling community.
Blake’s freshman year at Mount Mercy University has been a success. He sits on top of the Top Rookies leaderboard for the 2024-2025 Top Rookies table on the USBC, completing 42 games with an average of 221.
- 🎯 9 events
- 💥 6 x Top 25 finishes
- 💥 4 x Top 10 finishes
- 💥 3 x Top 3 finishes
- 🏆 1 x title at a Tier 2 event – Starrag Group Warhawk Open
Blake’s standout freshman season is nearing its end, but not before one final challenge.
Recently completed were the sectional qualifiers for both the Intercollegiate Singles (ISC), and Intercollegiate Team (ITC) championships. The ISC sectional saw Blake one of 273 bowlers who would be striving for a top 8 finish to advance to the championships by completing six games of singles. Blake finished in third place with a 1,478 total to secure his spot in the next stage with teammate Keaton Ostrowski (5th).
The other part of the sectional qualifiers was the ITC where Mount Mercy performed strongly in a marathon of 64 games of baker team format. The men of Mount Mercy finished in third place with 13,313 while the women of Mount Mercy finished on top of their division with 13,191.
The Mount Mercy Mustangs will bowl at the USBC ISC and ITC Championships, taking place in Las Vegas from the 15April (Australian time).
The schedule and other links for the upcoming championships can be found below.
